Phone with two touch screens. The best phone with two screens: why so many displays

Smartphones with two screens: why?

Mobile phones with two screens appeared back in the nineties, and the first devices of this format were the well-known clamshells. With the advent of smartphones, manufacturers concentrated on creating touchscreen all-in-one devices and forgot about auxiliary screens for a while. In 2017, everything changed: five large companies at once - LG, HTC, Samsung, Meizu and ZTE - presented a new product, marking the beginning of a new trend. ZOOM takes a look at what dual-screen smartphones are on the market today and why they need a secondary display.

It would seem that there are not so many models with two screens, but upon closer examination there are more than a dozen of them. We studied all the trends and identified five main groups: smartphones with an additional touch color display, with a monochrome display, with an E-ink-based secondary screen, folding devices with two identical screens and modern clamshells.

Folding beds

The first flip phone was the Motorola MicroTAC model introduced in 1989, although it received a more familiar form factor only with the release of an upgraded version of the Motorola StarTAC in 1996. And although all-in-one PCs completely dominate the market, flip phones are still selling and are even evolving. At first, manufacturers began adding small screens to the back of phones, and when devices began to get smarter, equivalent touch screens appeared on both sides of the devices.

Samsung W2017

A good example of such a design is the Samsung W2017 model. It received two 4.2-inch Full HD displays, a quad-core Snapdragon 820 processor, 4 GB of RAM, support for wireless charging and Samsung Pay, and so on. In a word, a truly top-end folding phone. True, it was made for the Chinese market and is very expensive - about 20,000 yuan (180,000 rubles).

Folding smartphones

Smartphones with two equivalent screens, once popular in Japan, appeared quite a long time ago. First, manufacturers began to use QWERTY keyboards, then the keyboard began to slide out from the side, and then was even supplemented with a second display, as, for example, in the 2011 LG Dual Screen QWERTY Phone. Subsequently, the need for a physical keyboard disappeared and was replaced by a second screen of identical dimensions to the main one and a folding design, when the smartphone resembles a horizontal clamshell. The NEC Medias W smartphone became a hit at MWC 2013, but this concept never gained widespread popularity around the world. Subsequently, such modifications were practically never produced outside Japan, and at the end of 2017, ZTE again decided to return to this idea by introducing the Axon M.

ZTE Axon M

The device has modern hardware, two Full HD displays with a diagonal of 5.2" each and a wide range of usage scenarios. When folded, to save battery, the auxiliary screen turns off and the device becomes similar to a regular smartphone. For games, there is a special mode in which control buttons are displayed on one display, and the main action is displayed on the second. And finally, desktop mode allows you to display the same picture on both screens, which is convenient for watching videos with a large group. In general, ZTE's interest in such a solution is quite remarkable, especially considering the fact that Samsung has long been threatening to show its vision of the concept, in which one large display will be divided into two, folding like the Axon M. At first, this development was mentioned under the name Project Valley. then Galaxy X, and now it has completely disappeared from view.

Second E-ink display

The first idea to combine a smartphone and a reader was implemented in 2013 by the Russian company Yota Devices, which presented its . The device differed from its competitors by the presence of a second display on the rear panel, similar in size to the main one, but made using electronic ink technology. This made it possible not only to use it as an e-reader, reading text with greater comfort, but also to continue working even when the charge level dropped to a minimum.

YotaPhone 2

Electronic ink has significantly lower energy consumption, so you can use such a device longer than a regular smartphone. Following the first version of YotaPhone in 2014, the company was then sold to the Chinese, who independently introduced it in 2017, not yet available on the Russian market. At one time, the Umi company was going to release a similar model called Zero 2, but then it was rebranded as Umidigi and the plans, apparently, were abandoned.

Second monochrome display

Auxiliary touch displays have practically replaced monochrome ones, but at a certain period of time manufacturers managed to experiment with them. First, such technical screens appeared in clamshells, allowing you to see information about the time, calls and messages without opening the phone, and then they were introduced into smartphones. One of the most interesting products that implemented a similar idea was the Chinese Doogee T3, introduced in 2016.

Doogee T3

The device combines a non-standard design with genuine leather inserts, good performance for a price of less than 10,000 rubles and an additional screen located on the upper end of the case. It is capable of displaying information about missed calls, notifications about unread messages, time, etc. Looking at such a screen, however, is not very convenient, and there is no brightness adjustment, so Doogee has something to work on.

Highscreen Ice 2

The domestic manufacturer Highscreen also distinguished itself here. His Ice 2 smartphone also has a small secondary OLED display on the back that can display the time, weather, notifications and other similar data, automatically turning on after a set interval.

Second touch display

Perhaps the most promising concept in modern realities is adding an auxiliary screen to the main screen, but not monochrome, but color and touch. LG was the first to implement the idea of placing a narrow secondary display above the main one in 2015, introducing the flagship V10 (). Over the next two years, the South Koreans managed to release three more models: V20 (that too), Q8 and the “state-priced” LG X view.

Impressed by the concept, at the beginning of 2017 HTC showed its U Ultra, using an identical solution, followed by Meizu in July. Naturally, the Chinese did everything their own way, installing an additional screen in the Pro 7 and Pro 7 Plus not on the front, but on the back.

Meizu Pro 7

The implementation turned out to be more interesting than that of LG, which has been exploiting the same idea for the second year, and HTC, which simply copied the concept from the Koreans. Moreover, the location of two displays one below the other, even taking into account the fact that the camera is located on the side of the auxiliary one, inevitably leads to an increase in dimensions. The Pro 7 doesn’t have this problem; in addition, the main screen is frameless, so everything looks neat and modern. The only thing is that the issue of ease of use of the additional display located at the back is somewhat controversial: to look at it, the smartphone will have to be turned over with the front screen down.

HTC U Ultra

Regardless of the location of the second display, its purpose is similar for all models: it is an additional screen for displaying all kinds of notifications, time, weather, charge level and other information that can be displayed when the main display is turned off. Other application scenarios include controlling an audio player, displaying the most frequently used contacts or camera operating modes. Meizu in its Pro 7 also offers to use an additional display to view the image when taking a selfie on the rear module.

Manufacturers of mobile gadgets and designers have to really rack their brains in order to somehow surprise their consumers. Almost everything has been squeezed out of today's smartphones: the diagonal has grown to the limit, the cameras have professional matrices, and the amount of RAM on board has become equal to that of our desktop PCs.

It was then that the idea arose to create a combined device with a second display. Surely many people still have fresh memories of the time when we admired clamshell phones with 2 screens. But then the designers were limited on many points, where the main problem was the bulky “filling”, but a beautiful, interesting and compact gadget could do nothing more.

With the advent of new technologies, and at the same time ultra-compact devices, where almost the semblance of a computer can be placed on one square centimeter, manufacturers have a free hand, and they rushed to conquer the new and the well-forgotten old. Moreover, there is enough room for imagination, because there are simply no specific standards for mobile phones with 2 screens. Some make the second display narrow, others wide, others put it on the back panel or side edge, and still others completely duplicate the original screen.

So, we present to your attention a review of phones with 2 screens, which includes the most remarkable models that stand out for their quality.

HTC U Ultra

This new dual screen phone was introduced in the spring of this year. He burst onto the market like a hurricane, sweeping away competitors in his path. People are greeted by their clothes, and in our case, there is something to see here. Users were delighted with the design of the model: pleasant outlines, perfectly matched colors and the shimmer of the glass case in the sun - they simply cannot help but fall in love with them.

In addition, this Taiwanese phone with 2 screens has great sound, good cameras and excellent performance. The second display (2.5 inches) is located directly below the main ones (5.7 inches), and by default it displays information about time, battery charge, and weather. Notifications from background applications also appear on it. The settings for the second screen are quite flexible. You can display calendar events, almost any shortcuts on it, control the player, set reminders and much more.

Device characteristics

The basic specs of a dual-screen phone are impressive. One of these is a large 5.7-inch display on a high-quality matrix with high Quad HD resolution (2560 x 1440 px). The latter operates on Super LCD technology and is reliably protected by fifth-generation glass from venerable

Performance hasn't let us down. The modern Snapdragon 821 series processor and 4 GB of RAM will “digest” any application without fries, brakes or other lags, not to mention the ordinary, lightning-fast operation of the interface.

The phone with 2 HTC U Ultra screens has excellent cameras, and the main one is also equipped with optical stabilization and has great functionality. In general, the set of characteristics can be confidently called flagship, so the gadget justifies its high price.

The only thing that users complained about in their reviews of phones with 2 screens from NTS was the battery life. The device received a modest 3000 mAh battery. Such a battery is clearly not enough for a powerful set of chipsets and a voracious Quad HD resolution, so the smartphone asks to be plugged in almost twice a day.

Estimated cost - 30,000 rubles.

The device appeared on the market of mobile gadgets with the help of Russian designers and engineers. The model turned out to be nice, interesting, moderately productive, but too expensive for domestic consumers.

If it were flagship, that is, with the appropriate surroundings and “filling,” then sales would be noticeably more active. But the gadget couldn’t find its way among the heap of similar Chinese phones with 2 screens, so the manufacturer was forced to lower the price and sell the device practically at a loss. Despite such sad marketing statistics, the underrated smartphone deserves attention.

Model features

The YotaPhone 2 device has a 5-inch screen with AMOLED technology and Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels) with a pixel density of 441 ppi. The second E-Ink display, which is located on the back of the device, has a full sensor and qHD resolution (960 x 540 pixels).

Both screens are protected by third-generation Gorilla protection and are scratch-resistant. The second screen is great for reading books, so lovers of the latter will certainly appreciate the device. Working with an E-Ink matrix is many times more economical than the main display.

In their reviews, users note the impossibility of using both screens at the same time: taps are delayed, and only after some time they switch to another display.

Estimated cost - 20,000 rubles.

LG V20

This is not the first time that Koreans have introduced phones with 2 screens on the mobile gadget market. The previous generation of the series - the V10 model somehow quickly sank into the heap of other, more noble and nimble analogues, and the new device firmly established itself in the top sales.

The V20 series was distinguished by its attractive appearance and powerful set of chipsets. In addition, after working out the bugs, the battery capacity was increased (3200 mAh), RAM (4 GB), and a second powerful camera appeared.

Device capabilities

The second 2.1-inch screen (1040 x 160 px) while the first one is running (5.7”/2560 x 1440 px) displays all important data: date and time, battery charge, multimedia control interface, as well as quick access to calls and messengers. Such a tandem could be called ideal if the manufacturer equipped the backup with the same AMOLED technology as the main display.

The phone with 2 screens has an attractive metal body, excellent cameras (16 MP + 8 MP), a removable battery and independent interfaces for SIM cards. As for battery life, the performance is slightly below average when compared to Android phones. Still, a powerful set of chipsets and a second screen make themselves felt; they “eat” energy with great appetite.

Users speak rather flatteringly about the V20 smartphone from LG, and the average rating on Yandex.Market does not fall below 4.5 points out of 5. The manufacturer slightly lowered prices after all the presentations and sales peaks, so the model can be called more or less affordable for domestic consumers consumer.

Estimated cost - 25,000 rubles.

Meizu Pro 7 (Plus)

The Chinese are not at all behind the Koreans and Taiwanese, so they produce quite decent gadgets with two screens. This summer, the Meizu brand introduced two devices to the mobile device market - Pro 7 and Pro 7 Plus.

They differ in two main parameters. The first model has a 5.2-inch screen with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, and the second has a 5.7-inch diagonal and a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels. There are also differences in the “stuffing”: Pro 7 - 4 GB of RAM and 8 cores in the processor, and Pro 7 Plus - 6 GB of RAM and 10 cores. Everything else remains identical, except that on sale you can sometimes find a modification of the Pro 7 Plus with a 3500 mAh battery versus 3000 mAh in the basic configuration.

Pros and cons of models

The second screen with a diagonal of 1.9 inches (536 x 240 px) is located on the rear panel, and this design, when compared with competitors, is very unusual. The second display complements it, continuing the style of the main camera behind the gadget. Many users in their reviews, and experts too, consider this solution to be an image “trick” and not a practical necessity. Nevertheless, it all looks surprisingly beautiful and harmonious.

The second screen can be turned on or off through the menu, as well as a combination of mechanical keys. You can also choose the wallpaper you like, display notifications: time, date, weather, pedometer and even the state of the camera, which allows you to use it for selfies.

As for the overall appearance, there is nothing to complain about here: an attractive metal body, ergonomically distributed controls and a stunning main screen with AMOLED technology. There are no questions about the “stuffing” of the gadget: decent cameras, good sound and high performance.

Users in their reviews complained about the short battery life with such a “gluttonous” set of chipsets and a second screen, but the manufacturer put the thin body and lightness of the device at the forefront.

Estimated cost - 24,000 rubles for Pro 7; 30,000 for Pro 7 Plus.

DOOGEE T3

This model has a second screen located in an unusual place - on the upper beveled edge, so you won’t notice it right away. Judging by user reviews, the smartphone turned out to be brutal and interesting, successfully standing out from the mass of other devices of a similar nature.

The back panel is framed in leather, and the ends shine with polished metal. A similar solution can be seen in the noble Vertu family. Despite such a specific and monolithic design, the gadget has a removable back cover, as well as a replaceable battery.

Due to the correct bevel angle, the information on the end display is clearly visible. In the basic setting, it displays the time, calls and messenger status. Wide functionality is not provided for it in principle, because the display space of 0.96 inches is clearly not conducive to this. The main task of the second screen is a detailed display of current events.

Features of the device

The main 4.7-inch display has a good matrix with HD resolution (1280 x 720 px), which is quite enough for the existing diagonal. A fairly fast processor running on eight cores is responsible for the performance. Three gigabytes of RAM is enough for smooth operation of the interface and launching modern applications. The set of chipsets is not designed for stable operation of serious and “heavy” applications, so in a good half of modern games the graphics settings will have to be reset to medium and sometimes minimum values.

The battery life with a 3200 mAh battery can be called average. The processor, main and auxiliary screens do not consume much energy, so even under a good load, the phone will easily last from morning to evening.

We were also pleased with the capabilities of the cameras. The 13-megapixel main one can take quite passable high-definition pictures. The front camera performed well in video messengers and selfies. In general, the phone is worth its money, it works out to the fullest.

Consumer Opinion

As for user reviews, they are mixed. Some consider such design solutions to be nonsense, perceive this smartphone as some kind of monster, while others, on the contrary, almost sing the praises of the designers for such originality. Many owners complain about the sound of the gadget. Not only is the quality of the speakers a little let down, but also the location is somehow ill-considered: while working with the phone, the grille is constantly closed either with the palm of your hand or with your fingers, so the sound is hard to hear. If you turn the slider up to full volume, the bass, along with the high frequencies, breaks into a cacophony.

However, these shortcomings are more than compensated for by the cost of the gadget. The manufacturer from the Middle Kingdom did not equip its brainchild with premium features, which we observed from previous respondents, but simply made a smart gadget with an affordable price tag for its characteristics. Estimated cost - 9,000 rubles.

Modern manufacturers of mobile equipment always want to surprise their users with something and add some bright and distinctive detail to a new model. Some experiment with camera megapixels, some equip their gadget with a super-powerful battery, and others decide to add an additional screen. Today, a smartphone with two screens is not such a common occurrence; few companies undertake bold experiments and implement this idea in completely different ways.

We can all remember old folding phones that had a simple color screen inside and a monochrome one for displaying the time outside. So, we do not take such devices into account, but will focus specifically on modern attempts to create a smartphone with two screens.

Since the way the second screen is implemented differs from one manufacturer to another, it is impossible to give a clear answer to the question of why it is needed: some use it to display the most important information and save energy, others use it to control the smartphone itself, and others simply surprise themselves the presence of a second screen, without giving it any special functionality. However, many users look towards such gadgets, and their presence in the hands makes them stand out from the crowd, so they are still in demand, even despite the not the lowest price.

So, let's begin a review of the most interesting models with two screens, the first of which began to appear long before the famous YotaPhone.

Dual-screen smartphone from Fujitsu

Fujitsu was one of the first in the world to begin such developments, which already in 2010 presented a prototype of a smartphone with two screens, although it never went on sale: apparently, it was far ahead of its time.

It looks like an ordinary clamshell, only very large, but when you open it, it turns out that the screen is located not only in its usual place, but also in place of the keyboard. The resolution of both displays was 960*480 pixels - not bad for that time. The lower part was touch sensitive, so it could be used as a keyboard to control a smartphone. The top display, by the way, also supported touch controls, so you could, for example, drag an image from one screen to another when they are positioned vertically. The configuration of the smartphone allowed the screens to be rotated so that they were in a horizontal position and created a single space for viewing web pages, for example, etc.

Ava solution

Another progressive solution from 2010, when a 7 mm thick device case contained two full screens in a very unusual configuration. It looked like a miniature smartphone with an excellent color touch screen, and with the help of roller mechanisms, an additional thin flexible display could be pulled out when necessary. In this case, the touchscreen smartphone turned into a full-fledged QWERTY keyboard, and the entire device into a miniature laptop.

The author of the idea was Donny Mamanov, but then everything remained at the prototype level, since there was no demand. Now, with the growing popularity of smartphones with two screens, such a development has a future.

YotaPhone and YotaPhone 2

Interesting devices from the Russian manufacturer are probably among the first with two screens that are produced for sale and fully functioning. The first model was released in 2013, and based on user criticism and some comments, the second model was released in 2014: it became more thoughtful and balanced.

YotaPhone is often called the world's first dual-screen smartphone: Although there were other developments before, this is still the first gadget that went into mass production. And it surprises not only with its two screens, but also with good technical stuffing: a 2-core processor, a 13-megapixel camera, 2 GB of RAM, and a stylish design. Naturally, the main feature is the presence of a second screen made using E-Ink technology. It has the same diagonal as the main one - 4.3 inches, and is located on the back of the smartphone.

The black and white screen is easy to read, as it does not tire the eyes, it consumes almost no energy, so it works constantly in the smartphone. An additional display serves here to display information about time and events from selected applications: the list of notifications can be configured at your discretion, including privacy settings: for example, displaying only information about the SMS, but not its text. In addition, you can set wallpaper here, a funny inscription appears when you take a photo, and developers can write their own applications to interact with the second screen. Its resolution is small - 360*460, but for E-Ink this is normal. The only negative is that the display is not touch-sensitive, and you need to remember several gestures to control it. But it is possible to instantly transfer information from the main screen to the second one, and use this function, for example, when the phone is low, but an electronic ticket is stored in it, etc.

But the first YotaPhone was not without many shortcomings: users complained about the strange placement of the camera lens at the bottom, not very well-thought-out controls for the main and second display, not the most productive hardware, and low resolution of the main display. After the manufacturer was convinced that such devices were in demand, it released an updated device that is difficult to find fault with.

YotaPhone 2, released at the end of last year, received the latest operating system, a new dual-core processor, 2 GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal memory, improved cameras, a 5-inch color display with a resolution of 1080 * 1920 pixels and protective glass, a battery 2500 mAh, wireless charging. The second display with a diagonal of 4.6 inches has a resolution of 540 * 960 pixels, 16 shades of gray. The E-Ink display here is beyond praise: it has become touch-sensitive and can display all the same information as the main smartphone: watching movies, navigation, surfing the Internet, etc. Everything is fast, clear and of high quality, and if you are saving battery power, you can safely switch to using the second screen.

In terms of design, the second YotaPhone turned out to be much better: it is stylish, thin, not similar to the first, with a rounded back panel. The volume rocker is combined with a SIM card slot, the battery life is long, and the photos come out great. All this with a thickness of 8.45 mm and a weight of 145 g.

Another domestically produced gadget that has two displays. The new product was introduced at the end of last year. The second screen is also located on the reverse side; it is small and serves to display the time, information about incoming calls, messages, and notifications of customizable applications. The second screen serves more as an auxiliary display and is an analogue of those small screens that were found in old clamshells.

In terms of other characteristics, we have a standard modern smartphone: 8-core processor, 4.7-inch screen with a resolution of 1280*720 pixels, 2 GB of RAM, 13 and 2 megapixel cameras, support for two SIM cards, latest Android, nice design and light weight (135 g). True, due to its interesting feature, it turned out to be a little more expensive than smartphones from the same company with similar parameters.

The Chinese manufacturer decided to surprise users with a model where both screens are color and have an excellent resolution of 1080p. The new product also became known at the end of last year.

So the smartphone is made in the form of a “clamshell”, on the inside and outside of which there are equivalent 4-inch screens with a resolution of 1080 * 1920 pixels, which means that the pixel density is a staggering 550 per inch. Other characteristics include: a 4-core processor with a frequency of 1.5 GHz, 2 GB of RAM, 16 and 5 megapixel cameras, a fresh operating system, and a 2050 mAh battery. The weight of the device is 172 grams, and there are no details of the price, release dates and operation with two screens yet.

In conclusion

Today, manufacturers are increasingly deciding to experiment with screens. So, our review did not include, for example, Galaxy Note Edge, in which the main screen forms an additional one, slightly bent from it. There are also devices on sale with slightly bent screens, etc. In the near future, smartphones that seem futuristic and unrealistic today will be perceived as something standard.

Smartphones with dual screens are something new on the gadget market. If you remember, previously dual screens were only available on push-button flip phones. Its main functions were to notify about missed calls with messages or show the current time. But technology is constantly evolving, and there are certainly no fewer functions. What does a dual screen hide behind on a smartphone in 2017? We will talk about this in detail in our rating of the best smartphones with two screens.

YotaPhone 2

If you're willing to pay top dollar for something extremely unique and intriguing, the YotaPhone 2 is the right choice. This smartphone is famous for its dual screens that can be used for different purposes. The main screen of the smartphone shows a large 5-inch AMOLED display with Full HD (1080x1920 pixels) and a pixel density of 441 ppi. But what really attracts attention is the rear E-ink touch display with qHD resolution (540x960 pixels). Both screens are covered with Corning Gorilla Glass 3.0 to ensure high scratch resistance. The rear screen is ideal for functions such as reading books because it is made with e-ink. This way, you can save battery power for other entertainment. But there is one significant drawback - two screens cannot work simultaneously: finger touches are delayed and only then switch to the other screen.

Main characteristics:

Screen: 5 inches with a resolution of 1920×1080 pixels, E-Ink screen – 4.7 inches with a resolution of 960×540;
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 and Adreno 330 video accelerator;
Memory: 32 GB of internal memory and 2 GB of RAM;
Android 4.4;
Camera: 8 and 2.1 MP;
Battery: 2500 mAh;

Pros:

Dual screen;
Useful E-ink display;
High performance;
Excellent battery life;

Minuses:

No SD card slot;
Medium cameras;

LG X View K500DS

This smart Android smartphone feels great in the hand and performs well, but its unusual secondary screen and front camera clearly make it stand out from the crowd, which is why it's among the best smartphones out there. Of course, the second display is more compact and less sharp. It sits directly on top of the main display and has a 1.76-inch display with a resolution of 520x80 pixels. It's always on, constantly showing you the time, date, battery level, and any relevant notification icons from your apps. This secondary display becomes slightly dimmer when the smartphone is in sleep mode, conserving battery power. The smartphone also comes with an 8 MP camera, which is higher than usual in LG devices. The pictures come out quite rich and bright. The mobile phone works great on 4G networks and has a loud speaker that produces good sound.

Main characteristics:

Screen: 4.93 inches with a resolution of 1280×720 pixels, secondary display – 1.76 inches with a resolution of 520×80;
Processor: Qualcomm MSM8916 and Adreno 306 video accelerator;
Android 6.0;
Camera: 13 and 8 MP;
Battery: 2300 mAh;

Pros:

Great cameras;
Large expandable memory;
Dual screen;

Minuses:

Medium battery;
Single-symbol;

Highscreen Ice 2

Another excellent smartphone that captivates with its appearance and therefore falls into the ranking of the best smartphones with two screens for 2017. The design is no different at the front, but something new appears at the back - a small additional screen the size of old calculators. One of the most important functions of this screen is to display the current time, weather and other notifications from applications. The smartphone has a main 4.7-inch screen with a display density of 312 ppi with wide viewing angles. On the side edges there are two slots for SIM cards. Despite having 16GB of internal storage, the phone supports an SD card slot that supports cards up to 256GB in size.

Main characteristics:

Screen: 4.7 inches with a resolution of 1280x720 pixels, additional screen with a 22x3 mm matrix;
Processor: MediaTek MT6592 and Mali-450MP4 video accelerator;
Memory: 16 GB of internal memory and 2 GB of RAM;
Android 4.4;
Camera: 13 and 2 MP;
Battery: 2500 mAh;

Pros:

Availability of an additional screen;
Excellent performance;
Good cameras;
Powerful battery;

Minuses:

Outdated software version;

YotaPhone 3

A new product from YotaPhone, it has already gained popularity online. The smartphone has good cameras and sharp AMOLED displays, and the performance of the phone is great thanks to the large amount of RAM. You can buy this device with a double screen for around 30 thousand rubles. First of all, the cell phone is equipped with the latest version of Android – 7.0 and has a dual screen, like its predecessor, differing only in more powerful characteristics. The 12 megapixel selfie camera is ideal for quality video calls. The smartphone draws its power from a large 3200 mAh lithium-ion battery, which allows the smartphone to operate for long hours.

Main characteristics:

Screen: 5.5 inches with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, E-Ink screen – 5.2 inches;
Processor: Snapdragon 625 and Adreno 506 video accelerator;
Memory: 64 GB of internal memory and 4 GB of RAM;
Android 7.0;
Camera: 13 and 12 MP;
Battery: 3200 mAh;

Pros:

Unique design;
Powerful configuration;
Dual screen;
Fingerprint sensor;

Minuses:

Non-expandable memory;
Non-removable battery;

Conclusion

This concludes our TOP. Dual screens in smartphones are gaining popularity with great momentum. Many widgets connected to the Internet began to display updated information on an additional display without turning on the main screen. This is very convenient for the modern user. If you have a desire to buy such a smartphone, we recommend that you look again at the rating of the best smartphones with two screens for 2017 in order to accurately decide on your choice.

Young users who think the idea of equipping a phone with a second screen as innovative are mistaken. Even primitive “clamshells”, which were at the height of fashion a good ten years ago, were equipped with auxiliary LED displays. Additional screens displayed the most important information - thanks to this, the user of the clamshell did not have to flip the lid every time to, for example, see the time.

It seemed that the concept of two screens had “sunk into oblivion” along with the “folding phones” themselves. However, it was “resurrected” by the Russian company YotaPhone in 2012, demonstrating its revolutionary gadget with an additional E-Ink display. This article will tell you how modern Yotafons differ from the debut model, and will also present other current smartphones with two screens.

Main screen: diagonal 5 inches, FullHD resolution
Additional screen: diagonal 4.7 inches, resolution 960×540
Memory(operational / built-in) : 2 GB / 32 GB
Camera: 8 megapixels
Battery: 2,500 mAh

Price: from 14,900 rubles

YotaPhone 2 is not new; this Russian smartphone was presented at the MWC exhibition at the beginning of 2014 - where, by the way, it made a splash. The device became a real pride and a classic example of the domestic smartphone industry - even famous politicians did not hesitate to advertise it.

Like the first generation model, YotaPhone 2, in addition to the main FullHD screen, also has an E-Ink display of almost the same size - it is located on the rear surface. The user can use the additional screen not only to read books (although this is the most obvious use), but also to control the basic functions of the mobile device. This is the key difference between the second Yotafon and its “predecessor” - in the first generation gadget, the auxiliary display was not fully touch-sensitive. There was only a strip that you could swipe to turn the pages of the e-book.

The design and functionality have also changed. YotaPhone 2 looks more attractive than the first model thanks to its rounded body, free of sharp corners. The ergonomics of the device are excellent: a smartphone with two screens is neither heavy nor thick; in weight and dimensions it is comparable to its classmate models. The device received technical equipment at the level of 2014 flagships: the manufacturer provided it, in particular, with wireless charging, a protected AMOLED display, modules and LTE, and even an audio player capable of playing FLAC files.

A detailed comparison of YotaPhone and YotaPhone 2 was made by the site www.maxabout.com. The results were presented by the portal in the form of infographics:

Image: maxabout.com

The second Yotafon would have been a bestseller in Russia, if not for one “but”: the price of the gadget turned out to be “biting”. They asked for more than 32 thousand rubles for the device. Of course, for that kind of money, Russians preferred to buy the Samsung Galaxy S5 and other flagship models from well-known manufacturers.

By 2017, the cost of YotaPhone 2 had dropped many times, which was facilitated by the appearance of the next generation device.

Advantages:

Attractive design and good ergonomics.
E-Ink touch screen.
Support for YotaEnergy – a proprietary energy saving function.
Supports wireless charging technology.

Flaws:

The smartphone doesn’t look like a new product – it was released back in 2014.
The gadget does not have a slot for a memory card.

YotaPhone 3

Main screen: diagonal 5.5 inches, FullHD resolution
Additional screen: diagonal 5.2 inches, E-Ink technology
4 GB / 64 – 128 GB
13 Mpix / 12 Mpix
Battery: 3,200 mAh

Price: 29,990 – 34,990 rubles (according to expert forecasts)

YotaPhone 3 has not yet been officially presented in Russia - that’s why there is no certainty about the price. But a gadget with two displays has already been shown to Chinese users. Users from the Middle Kingdom will be able to pre-order from September 5 at a price of 2,398 yuan (about 21,500 rubles at the current exchange rate). The implementation of YOTA3 - as YotaPhone 3 is called in Asia - will be carried out by the JD.com trading platform.

The YotaPhone developers again made a radical design change - the third model looks nothing like the second. More on the first one - it was decided to abandon the rounded body and return to a rectangular shape. The gadget has an interesting sensor on the back panel - thanks to this sensor, the smartphone accurately determines which of the 2 screens the user wants to unlock. The fingerprint sensor, mandatory for modern flagships, is also present here - it is located on the front edge under the main display.

Surely the new Yotafon will compete with the best tablets for reading books, because the gadget will be sold with several pre-installed applications for book lovers - including iReader and China Reading.

YotaPhone 3 has a lot of other advantages compared to its “predecessor” - the screen is larger and the cameras are better - but this is understandable: more than 3 years have passed since the release of the second model, and all these years progress has not stood still. Technically, the third Yotafon is equipped no worse than modern flagships, however, it also has a rather impressive price. Russian users will be able to get acquainted with the new device only towards the end of the year.

Advantages:

Own operating system YotaOS 3.0 (based on Android 7.1.1).
Cameras with high resolution and good light sensitivity.
Support for popular services for reading e-books.
Lots of memory for storing data.

Flaws:

Impressive cost - especially for a know-name product, which Russian retailers consider YotaPhone 3 to be.
The gadget is not yet for sale in Russia.

Where can I buy: Domestic Yota fans can be advised to wait for the start of pre-orders and order the device from the Chinese online store JD.com.

LG V20

Main screen: diagonal 5.7 inches, resolution 2560×1440.
Additional screen: diagonal 2.1 inches, resolution 160×1040
Memory (RAM/built-in): 4 GB / 64 GB
Camera (rear/front): 16 + 8 Mpix / 5 Mpix
Battery: 3,200 mAh

Price: from 22,720 rubles

Conclusion

Contrary to popular belief, not only YotaPhone produces smartphones with two displays. There are enough two-screen models on the market, but only a few of them reach Russia. Domestic users could find V series smartphones from LG with small color displays on display, but the respectable Doogee T3 and clamshell VKworld T2 Plus were not officially sold in Russia. One can only envy Chinese users: they can admire the most original gadgets in person - and even the Russian-made YotaPhone 3 smartphone is shown to them before the Russians themselves.